Evaluation of a Tunnel Form Social Housing Unit Based on Passive Design Principles

Many countries developed methods for the definition of houses with a very low energy use in the past years, among which Passive House represents a dwelling with extremely thermal insulated external envelope, good air tightness and highly efficient ventilation heat recovery to reduce energy consumption of buildings greatly depending on the location. This paper is carried out to see if it is possible to design tunnel-form structures as Passive House buildings. Also in this paper, construction of a Passive House in Turkey is discussed considering several perspectives such as applicability of Passive House principles, use of modern technologies, role of public authorities and developing pilot projects in energy efficiency. The research found out that the Passive House Standard could be met in the tunnel form housing unit in Ankara, assuming that the building is thermal bridge free. 82% and 73% reductions could be achieved respectively in annual heating demand and in heating load of the case building. In addition to that 57% reduction in primary energy demand which covers the space heating, cooling, DHW and household electricity and 53% reduction in the CO2 emissions could be obtained